Knaphill ended their 2023-24 season home league campaign in glorious style, and secured third place at least, by beating fellow play-off hopefuls Redhill 5-0 at Redding Way on Saturday afternoon.
A lively start by both sides saw Redhill take the game to Knaphill. The early minutes saw Redhill play some good through balls and have a free kick that just went wide. But Knaphill then gained control and started to set the tone for the rest of the match. Knaphill’s solid defensive unit allowed the driving force of Zac Hawker and creative skills of Adam Aziz to make chances for Jose Sani, Seb Karczewski and Felipe Marques De Lima. Joe Dyett came close to opening the scoring from a corner while Aziz saw his chip just go over the bar.
However, the 23rd minute saw a mix-up in the Redhill box that was pounced on by Karczewski, who laid the ball back to Sani to smash in and make the score 1-0. Knaphill were now oozing confidence with their play, but Redhill kept trying to hit the home side on the break. They nearly equalised when they saw a shot come off the home side’s crossbar after a clear run in. Knaphill led 1-0 at half-time.
The start of the second half settled the three points for Knaphill. Two goals came inside a minute for Karczewski after good work from Aziz and Sani respectively. Aziz sent over a superb cross for a far-post header in the 47th minute and Sani’s run from 35 yards out left Karczewski with a tap in on 48 minutes.
Karczewski got his deserved hat-trick from a good run and shot, holding off a Redhill defender after Lima sent a ball over the top from the halfway line, to make it 4-0 to the hosts.
The fifth and final Knaphill goal came on 85 minutes after Stacey Thripp passed to Calvin Camara out on the left. His driving run and shot across the Redhill defensive line found its way into the opposite corner to seal a fine Knaphill performance.
The comprehensive victory secured a play-off place and the club’s highest-ever finish in the league. With one game to go, second place is still a possibility but third is the minimum that can be obtained. All the hard work from the committee, volunteers, players and management have put the club in an exciting position for the end of season play-offs and possible promotion to the Isthmian League South Central Division.
Knaphill have teamed up with the Woking News & Mail to offer free entry for under-16s to their home promotion play-off semi-final game on Saturday, May 4 (3pm). The offer is available to under-16s who attend the match with a full paying adult and bring along the Woking News & Mail free under-16 ticket offer cut-out. Knaphill will have the chance to secure promotion to Step 4 football for the first time ever in the club’s 100-year history. The play-off game will be held at Knaphill’s Redding Way ground.
